How Did The Tuskegee Airmen Fight For Racial Equality?

The Tuskegee airmen had staged a nonviolent protest to fight against racial inequality.

The protest had set the pace for other demonstrations championed by civil rights activists many years after.

Who Were The Tuskegee Airmen?

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of military pilots and airmen of African American heritage, who fought in World War II.

They made up the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

Also amongst them were non-military personnel such as navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, and cooks.

The Tuskegee airmen earned three Distinguished Unit Citations for their role in protecting American bombers from enemy fighters.

The Tuskegee airmen had their education at the Tuskegee University, in Tuskegee, Alabama. The school had produced 922 pilots, out of which five were Haitians, one was from Trinidad, and another Dominican Republic- born Hispanic.

The airfield where they practised has been made the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.

The Tuskegee Airmen remain “the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces”, and they had battled racial discrimination, both within and outside of the army.

The Tuskegee airmen were noted for painting the tails of their aircraft Red.

In 2007, a Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen. Till this day medal can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution.